Wagering games, such as Blackjack and Texas Hold'em poker, are very popular with players. While many games currently exist, additional games and variations of existing wagering games are always of interest to players and gaming operators to maintain player interest, among other things. At least some known systems allow a plurality of players to play online poker-type games via a plurality of client devices that are connected together via the internet. During play of known online poker-type games, each player is dealt a hand including a set of cards being dealt from a common deck of playing cards, and places wagers based on the associated dealt hand. At least some known poker-type games include an additional community hand that is also dealt from the common deck and includes a set of community cards that may be used by each of the players to form a poker hand.
The game of poker is well known and the rules can be found in nearly every card game rule book. In the game of poker cards are dealt to each player. Players may have a chance to improve their hand by discarding some of their cards, and receiving replacements, as in draw poker, or more cards may be dealt than needed and the best cards retained, as in the seven-card variations of poker. Other forms like Texas Hold'em and Omaha requires the use of communal “board cards” that are shared by all players.
Various rounds of betting take place after dealing and after drawing. In five-card stud poker, one card is dealt face down and the four remaining cards are dealt face up one at a time with a round of betting after each face up card is dealt. In all variations of poker, when the betting rounds are completed, the remaining players expose their hands and the winning player collects the money bet. The outcome is determined by the combinations of cards in the exposed hands. Those combinations are well known—high card, one pair, two pair, three-of-a-kind, straight, flush, full house, four-of-a-kind, and straight flush—and are described in nearly every card game rule book.
For example, at least some known poker-type game such as, for example, “Texas Hold 'Em” provide each player two cards dealt face down from the common deck, after which five community cards are dealt face up from the common deck. Each player's hand is determined based on two, one or none of the player's dealt cards and three, four or all five of the five community cards. Betting rounds may occur after each player receives the two cards, after the third community card has been dealt (called the “flop”), after the fourth community card has been dealt (the “turn”), and after the fifth community card has been dealt (the “river”). In addition, antes and/or blinds may be required to bet a predefined fixed amount into a “pot” in order to participate in the round and prior to the cards being dealt. Any amount included in the “pot” may be distributed to the player having a winning card hand. During each betting round, each player may decide to remain in the round by placing and/or checking a bet or to leave the round by relinquishing any bets to the “pot” and “folding” their card hand. At the completion of each betting round, each of the remaining player displays the player's two dealt cards in a “showdown”, and the value of each remaining player's hand is determined based on the player's two cards and three of the five community cards to form a five card poker hand, with the poker hands being ranked in standard poker fashion, such as, for example, royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card, in descending order. The player having the highest poker hand is the game winner.
A problem with traditional poker games is that the constant reshuffling of playing cards back into the deck between each round of play can lead to a very uneven distribution of good cards. It may take several hundred hands before players can be reasonably certain that they have not been disfavored by the random draw. They can keep being dealt the same bad cards over and over again. Another problem is that the skillful art of reading opponent's hand (essentially using all available information like prior plays, betting patterns, body language and more to analyze what cards the opponent may be holding) requires a significant amount of prior history to be effective. So hand reading becomes a historical rather than a situational affair. Both these issues prevent the game from being played as a skill game in the short-term.
Over time, during game play, the player may become frustrated because the chances of achieving a winning poker hand are based only on the cards available from the common deck. Accordingly, new features are necessary to appeal to player interest and enhance excitement in order to entice longer play and increased profitability. Thus, there continues to be a need for new games to compete with or replace the most popular games being played today. The present invention is directed to satisfying these needs.